Modular building is a technique of construction of temporary or permanent structures, such as construction camps, schools, classrooms, community centers, disaster relief housing, civilian or military housing, and industrial facilities. It is also highly desirable in remote areas where conventional construction techniques may be unavailable or unfeasible due to lack of resources, construction crews, or difficult access.
There are many known disadvantages of traditional site-built structures that may be addressed by a highly mobile and cost effective modular building technique. For example, site-built structures are typically constructed from concrete, metal and wood. Increased or prohibitive costs may be involved in transporting the building materials and construction workers to the build site. Use of concrete requires the materials to be mixed and poured at the job site by a concrete mixing truck. Concrete is also prone to cracking due to thermal stresses and seismic activity. Likewise wood building materials often need to be suitably stored at the construction site, and for larger beams, whether wood or metal, heavy duty transportation or handling may be required. In addition, wood structures can be susceptible to infestation by pests, such as termites and mice. Wood also can deteriorate due to environmental factors such as fungus or other rot. Furthermore, typical wood, metal and concrete structures cannot be readily disassembled and moved to a different location, leading to waste of building materials if the building becomes unneeded.
Accordingly, there is a need for an easily transportable and readily assembled pre-fabricated building structure and assembly technique. There is also a need for a building structure that can be disassembled and either re-used or recycled. Further, there is also a need for a building process that is flexible, fast and environmentally friendly.